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Police in Pre-Dawn Raid on Toulouse Shooting Suspect

By Bob Levin

Europe • March 2012 • Views: 2,358

bbc.co.uk

French police searching for a gunman who shot dead four people at a Jewish school in Toulouse have launched a raid in the north of the city.

Two police officers have been injured in the operation, which is reported to have begun before dawn and is ongoing.

A 24-year-old man is reported to be holed up inside the bungalow where the operation is taking place.

Update: There’s been a flood of information coming out of France, so I’m going to change the headline to something with more certainty.

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10 comments

Bob Dillon Tue, Mar 20, 2012 10:13:10pm

An elite French police squad cornered Wednesday a self-declared member of Al-Qaeda holed up in a house after a series of shooting attacks that shocked the nation.
Police sources told AFP officers investigating three attacks in which a gunman killed three soldiers, three Jewish schoolchildren and a rabbi had sealed off an address in the Croix-Daurade district of Toulouse.
A source close to the inquiry told AFP the suspect had exchanged words with the RAID team and had declared himself to be a member of Al-Qaeda.
He is thought to be a 24-year-old man who had previously travelled to the lawless border area between Pakistan and Afghanistan which is known to house al-Qaeda safehouses, one of the officials told AFP.
"He was in the DCRI's sights, as were others, after the first two attacks," an official said, referring to France's domestic intelligence service, adding: "Then the criminal investigation police brought in crucial evidence."
French Interior Minister Claude Gueant was at the scene of the operation, which was sealed off by officers in body armour and helmets. Two police were slightly wounded as the raid got underway, a source said.
If the suspect is proved to have been responsible for the killings, it would bring to an end to one of the most intense manhunts in French history and help calm tensions after a series of attacks disrupted a presidential election.
The shootings began on March 11, when a 30-year-old off-duty paratrooper of North African origin arranged to meet someone in Toulouse to sell him a scooter he had advertised online, revealing in the ad his military status.
The non-commissioned officer was shot in the head at close range with a .45 calibre pistol, a method that was to become the suspect's signature.
Four days later three more paratroopers from another regiment were gunned down in identical fashion in a street in the garrison town of Montauban, 45 kilometres (29 miles) away. Two died, also French North Africans.
Then on Monday the shooter, still wearing a motorcycle helmet and riding a scooter, opened fire outside the Ozar Hatorah Jewish school in Toulouse, a religious studies teacher, his toddler sons and a seven-year-old girl.
Anti-terrorist magistrates said the same gun and make of scooter was used in all three attacks and noted that the three attacks were carried out at precise four-day intervals.

SanFranciscoZionist Tue, Mar 20, 2012 10:14:46pm

God, I hope.

CuriousLurker Tue, Mar 20, 2012 11:48:25pm

re: #2 SanFranciscoZionist

God, I hope.

Amen to that.

Seven innocent people dead and one in critical condition. How many people affected by this? I keep thinking about the smiling face of the mother of the two little boys...she lost her husband and 2/3 of her children ..her world destroyed and her heart ripped out in a few horrible seconds. All because of hate.

And the parents of the little girl who was chased down and executed...to know that your child died alone and terrified...that you couldn't protect her...how will they cope? All because of hate.

And what about the others? One of the paratroopers had a baby on the way who will never know its father. I haven't heard much about the other two who were killed, but they surely had families who loved them as well. The one who's in critical condition? Brain injury for sure—if he survives, what will his life be like? All because of hate.

The hate isn't going to stop on its own. It just keeps getting worse, so obviously whatever we've been doing to date isn't working. What to do? It must be stopped, but how? There has to be another way...something we haven't thought of yet...

Timmeh Wed, Mar 21, 2012 12:08:04am

[Link: edition.cnn.com...]

According to Interior Minister Claude Gueant, the suspect is a French national of Algerian origin who spent considerable time in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Officials said the man belonged to the jihadist group, Forsane Alizza, or Knights of Glory. The French government banned the group in January for trying to recruit people to fight in Afghanistan.

Bob Levin Wed, Mar 21, 2012 12:30:54am

re: #3 CuriousLurker

That is THE question, the 10,000 year old question. It's not how to find objective truth, nor is it how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, or whether there is free will, none of it. It's 'how do we stop this?'

And you're absolutely right, it's something we've haven't yet tried, or thought of.

researchok Wed, Mar 21, 2012 1:21:58am

re: #3 CuriousLurker

re: #5 Bob Levin

Darkest before the dawn.

Change is coming and and the interests that be are desperate to maintain power.

They will in the end, go away.

Hate won't ever disappear, but when givena choice, a real choice, people will choose freedom over dysfunction.

Freedom is anathema to hate.

Timmeh Wed, Mar 21, 2012 7:08:34am

He was "under surveillance for years" by the French intelligence service, but somehow they allowed this to happen.

[Link: www.thespec.com...]

Say what you will about the FBI but they seem to have a way of ferreting these sorts out and defusing them before they kill innocents.

Flavia Wed, Mar 21, 2012 7:18:42am

re: #7 Timmeh

He was "under surveillance for years" by the French intelligence service, but somehow they allowed this to happen.

[Link: www.thespec.com...]

I SO didn't need to hear that. My friends are already annoyed by the way I rag on the Fwench already (& yeah, that was not a typo - I'm disgusted!!!)

Flavia Wed, Mar 21, 2012 7:26:08am

re: #3 CuriousLurker

I keep thinking about the smiling face of the mother of the two little boys

I know, sweetie - it's hard, it hurts. I wish I could do more than send you a hug. The best I can do is promise to make my little corner of the world as hate-free as possible. Hopefully, we can get more people to do that, & more, until stuff like this becomes a distant embarrassment to humanity.

What, me worry? Wed, Mar 21, 2012 7:38:54am

Between this and Trayvon Martin (although this was much worse) my head has been spinning with this hatred all week. I've been having terrible nightmares, waking all hours of the night and I rarely get effected like that by the news. It's the hopelessness, the injustice and for people like you all, like me, who sincerely empathize with the victim's families, you feel the pain in your heart.

There are no answers really, except that each of us do the best we can do to care for one another.

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